Dark Angel
A Dark Romance: London Ruthless Series Book 1
Sadie Kincaid
Red House Press
First published in 2021 by Red House Press.
Copyright © 2021 by Sadie Kincaid.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Cover Design: Athame Press
All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious and any resemblance to any real person, living or dead is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
Red House Press
For my incredible boys.
Acknowledgments
A huge thank you to the incredibly supportive women who helped me turn this book into a reality - Edie, for your generosity and your patience with my endless cover changes; Sue and Michelle for your feedback and encouragement; Mary, for your eagle eyes and your ongoing friendship and support.
Contents
Prologue
1. Fourteen years later
2. Gabriel
3. Samantha
4. Gabriel
5. Samantha
6. Gabriel
7. Samantha
8. Samantha
9. Gabriel
10. Samantha
11. Samantha
12. Gabriel
13. Samantha
14. Gabriel
15. Samantha
16. Samantha
17. Samantha
18. Samantha
19. Samantha
20. Samantha
21. Gabriel
22. Samantha
23. Gabriel
24. Samantha
25. Samantha
26. Gabriel
27. Gabriel
28. Samantha
29. Samantha
30. Samantha
31. Samantha
32. Gabriel
33. Samantha
34. Samantha
35. Samantha
36. Samantha
37. Samantha
38. Samantha
39. Samantha
40. Gabriel
41. Samantha
Gabriel
42. Samantha
Gabriel
43. Samantha
44. Gabriel
45. Samantha
46. Samantha
47. Samantha
48. Samantha
Gabriel
49. Samantha
50. Samantha
51. Samantha
52. Samantha
53. Samantha
54. Gabriel
55. Gabriel
56. Samantha
57. Samantha
58. Samantha
Chapter 59
60. Samantha
61. Samantha
62. Gabriel
63. Samantha
64. Samantha
65. Gabriel
66. Samantha
67. Samantha
68. Gabriel
69. Samantha
70. Samantha
71. Gabriel
72. Samantha
73. Samantha
Chapter 74
75. Gabriel
76. Samantha
77. Samantha
78. Samantha
Gabriel
79. Samantha
80. Gabriel
81. Samantha
82. Gabriel
83. Samantha
84. Gabriel
Also by Sadie Kincaid
FALLEN ANGEL
1
Prologue
Samantha
The room spun around me as I clung to him, my arms wrapped around his neck and my body cradled in his strong arms. I could feel his heart thumping against my own chest, its rhythm matching mine. I pressed my face against his throat. He smelled so good. Of expensive aftershave and fresh sweat. My insides trembled at being held so close to him. Every nerve ending was alive with electricity. I pressed my lips lightly against his skin and could have sworn I heard him groan.
But I couldn’t trust my own senses. Not tonight. And especially not around him. He kicked open the door to my bedroom before walking inside and placing me gently on the bed. He looked down at me. Those green eyes blazing full of fire.
Oh, God. This was it. The night I had been dreaming about for four long years. And finally, he was going to kiss me. Then he would slide those strong hands up my legs and slip his fingers beneath my little black dress until he found that spot where I ached to feel him the most.
‘Are you okay, Samantha?’ he asked, his voice full of concern. He stepped back, placing his hands in his trouser pockets.
‘Yes,’ I slurred. Then I felt the bile burning the back of my throat. I sat bolt upright. ‘I’m going to be sick,’ I shouted, but he didn’t flinch. He stayed right where he was.
Thankfully, it was a false alarm. I held my head in my hands and groaned loudly.
‘Jesus. How much have you had to drink, kid?’ he asked with a sigh.
Kid? I was eighteen! Only eight years younger than he was. Just as I was ready to give him some snarky comeback, my head started to spin again. I leaned back against the pillows and closed my eyes. I heard him walking out of the room and wondered if I had completely blown my chance. To my relief, he returned a few moments later with a wet face-cloth and a t-shirt of my father’s.
‘Here. Put this on,’ he said as he handed me the t-shirt and turned his back while I changed.
I stood up on shaky legs and slipped out of my tiny black dress. I blinked back tears as I thought about how many times I had imagined it would be his hands sliding this fabric over my body tonight, instead of my own. I pulled the t-shirt over my head, the soft cotton cool against my hot skin, and then I sat back down on the bed.
‘I’m done,’ I said.
He turned around and I saw his eyes drawn to the exposed flesh of my thighs before he quickly looked away.
‘Are you going to tell my dad?’ I asked as I lay back against the pillows.
He ignored my question. ‘If he’d been in the club tonight instead of me…’ he started as he sat on the bed beside me. He smoothed my hair from my face before placing the cool cloth on my forehead. ‘Are you stoned too?’
‘It is my leaving party,’ I said with a grin.
He cocked an eyebrow at me. ‘Well, you certainly know how to leave a lasting impression.’
I shrugged. ‘Not enough though, it seems.’
He stared at me. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Are you going to miss me, Gabe?’ I asked. This was my last chance. Tonight hadn’t quite worked out as I’d hoped. Along with my friends, I’d gone to the club where I knew Gabriel was working, with every intention of seducing him on my final night in Dagenham. I’d worn my sexiest little black dress and had flirted with him outrageously every single chance I got. But then the cocktails, the shots and the weed had kicked in. The next thing I knew, I could hardly stand. I couldn’t find my friends and I was being ‘helped’ outside by some random guy I didn’t even know. A guy who obviously didn’t realise that my dad and his best mate owned the security firm that employed the bouncers in the club, and every other club within a two-mile radius. Everything got a bit hazy after that. But
I did recall being carried out of the club by Gabriel and then driven home.
And now here we were. Him looking good enough to eat and acting like his usual calm and controlled self, and me a hot, drunken mess.
I was leaving for university tomorrow and if I didn’t go for it now, I wondered if I’d regret it for the rest of my life. I had a feeling that leaving this place would change me in ways I couldn’t even imagine. And part of me wanted to change. I wanted to stop longing for a man that I could never have. But I wasn’t sure I could.
I was completely in love with Gabriel Sullivan and had been since I was fourteen years old.
‘Of course I’ll miss you,’ he breathed. ‘Even if you drive me crazier than anyone I have ever known.’
My heart started to hammer in my chest. There was something in his voice, in the way that his eyes held mine, that made me wonder if he suddenly saw me as more than his best friend’s daughter.
‘But you’re going to set the world on fire, Samantha Donovan,’ he said softly as he brushed my cheek with his fingertips.
‘I would stay though,’ I said. ‘If you asked me to, I’d stay for you. I’m all yours if you want me.’
There, I’d said it. No going back now.
‘Jesus, Sam,’ he blew out a breath. ‘What are you trying to do to me?’
I blinked at him. What did that even mean? I don’t think he’d ever called me Sam before and I wondered why he did now. It was what my dad called me. On Gabriel’s lips though, it felt intimate and … I didn’t know. It was something I couldn’t quite figure out. Maybe if I wasn’t stoned off my face, I’d have a better understanding of what was going on here.
‘Ask me to stay with you,’ I pleaded as my heartbeat thundered in my ears.
He took hold of my hand and pressed my fingers to his lips. ‘My beautiful, sweet, Sam. I care about you far too much to ever ask you to do that.’
Then he stood up and kissed me lightly on the forehead before walking out of the room. I felt the sob catch in my throat as I watched him leave. Little did I know that by the time I saw him again, that sweet girl he’d once known would be long gone.
Chapter 1
Fourteen years later
Samantha
I stepped off the bus into the grey London drizzle. Despite the gloomy weather and the fact that I’d forgotten my umbrella, I smiled as I hopped over a puddle. For the first time in twelve years, my every move wasn’t scrutinised. I didn’t have to worry about what to say, or consider the consequences of every single decision I made. I was finally free.
The door to Archangel Securities was as unwelcoming as it could possibly be without having a sign on it telling people to get lost. Pushing open the heavy black door, I stepped into the dimly lit interior. The reception area was empty as usual. Not that I needed anyone to announce my arrival. I was expected.
Walking into the back, I pushed open the door with a sign that simply read, ‘The Boss.’
‘Sam!’ My father, Sebastian Donovan, bellowed as he rose from his seat and crossed the room in two strides before pulling me into a bear hug. ‘I’m so glad you stopped by. How are the new digs, sweetheart?’ He asked as he took a step back from me, a smile spreading across his face.
‘They’re great, Dad. The office and the apartment are both perfect. Thanks for helping me find them,’ I replied, shaking the rain from my hair.
‘Of course, love. Anything at all I can do to help. You know that. I’m just glad to have you back home where you belong. And those apartments have good security, you know?’ he replied with a wink. Archangel Securities were responsible for maintaining the CCTV equipment in my new apartment building and they also employed the security guards that always manned the front desk.
I smiled at him. He was always worrying about me. Forever feeling guilty that he hadn’t always been there for me. But from the moment he had come into my life, after my mum had died, he’d tried his hardest and I loved him for that. He’d done the best job he could with a stroppy teenager who was still grieving for the only parent she had ever known. I felt a pang of sadness blindside me. It felt like that girl no longer existed now.
Startled by a movement from the other side of the dim office, I flinched instinctively. It was an old habit. I hadn’t noticed anyone else in there when I’d first entered the room. But of course, he’d be there. He and my father were business partners, and despite their eight year age gap, the best of friends. He knew all about what had happened to me that night. Not the sanitised version from the newspapers either, but the real, awful truth. My dad had told him because he told him everything. Not for any morbid reasons, but because he’d struggled so much with what happened to his daughter, and the fact that, despite who he was, he hadn’t been able to prevent it.
‘Hello, Samantha,’ Gabriel Sullivan said as he stood up and walked towards me.
I felt my breath catch in my throat and my heart started to hammer in my chest. He was even more handsome than I remembered. Slightly taller than my dad, and wider too. Dark hair, broad shoulders and thick arms. With the most incredible green eyes, and a few days’ worth of stubble, his presence dominated the room. And damn, that man was born to wear a suit.
I’d had a thing for him years earlier, when I’d been a love-struck, hormonal teenager. But, for obvious reasons, he had always been off limits — and to him, I was nothing more than his best mate’s annoying teenage daughter. I hadn’t seen Gabriel since I’d left for university fourteen years earlier. I’d heard from my dad that he’d got married and subsequently divorced. No doubt he had a string of women vying for his attention. And if he was anything like my father, I would bet my life on him taking advantage of them all.
I’d been fourteen when I first met Gabriel. My dad brought him to the house one night while I was asleep in bed — at least I was supposed to have been. I’d heard them come in and had crept downstairs, only to be met by the sight of a shirtless demi-god standing in our kitchen with blood trickling down from his shoulder and onto his chest.
‘Sam! Get to bed,’ my dad had shouted as he came running into the kitchen.
‘But I can help,’ I’d insisted, desperate to feel useful for a change.
He had looked at me and made a split-second decision as his colleague stood bleeding all over our expensive floor tiles.
‘Okay. Go and find me some needle and thread,’ he’d ordered.
That had been my initiation into the dark and shady world that my father sometimes occupied. Gabriel had ended up with a neat scar from my dad’s DIY stitching job, which he later had covered with a tattoo, and after whatever had gone on that night, the two of them had set up Archangel Securities together. Gabriel had been a regular feature in my life for the next four years.
As Gabriel reached me, he leaned in and gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek, lightly touching my arm as he did. I felt the electricity crackling between us. ‘Nice to see you, Samantha,’ he said.
My skin prickled in annoyance.
What happened to the bear hugs he used to give? Just like my dad?
Suddenly I felt exposed — and vulnerable. It was as though all he could see was what had happened to me. I was no longer the feisty, funny girl, who had once been able to make him laugh and scowl in equal measure, but poor little Samantha, whose husband almost killed her. It irritated me, making me feel uncomfortable as I stood there in front of him, as though my clothes had suddenly started to chafe my skin. Fortunately, I’d perfected the art of hiding my feelings a long time ago.
‘Hey, Gabe,’ I said, flashing him my biggest smile. He hated to be called Gabe. He always had. I used to call him it when I wanted to push his buttons. It seemed it still worked and I grinned as he bristled and excused himself.
Chapter 2
Gabriel
I had been about to leave when she’d walked into our office. Samantha Donovan – looking like a teenage boy’s wet dream. Her long dark hair pulled to one side, exposing the creamy skin of her neck. In a skin-tight
pencil skirt that clung to the curve of her hips. The top of her white shirt wet from the rain, making it almost transparent. She glided across the room in her expensive designer heels, like she’d been born in them. Even dishevelled by the rain, she looked like she’d just stepped out of a magazine. She shook the rain from her hair and I felt a familiar twitching in my dick.
I greeted her with all the restraint I could muster. Kissing her cheek, I could smell her sweet perfume — the heat and the rain making it more potent. I was afraid to hug her in case she felt just how happy I was to see her. And then she called me Gabe. I remembered how I used to pretend that it infuriated me. And it did, if anyone else called me it. But on her lips...
Dark Angel: A Dark Romance: London Ruthless Series Book 1 (The London Ruthless Series) Page 1